It is a reading comprehension question. Read the text provided: "To avoid crushing the glass slide when focusing, begin with the lens close to the specimen"
The microscope lens should initially be placed close to the glass slide:
C. To avoid breaking the glass slide when adjusting the focus.
I saw that too. It doesn’t change the fact that understanding of the domain strongly biases the result of answering the question. What you’re saying is that it is possible to answer the question while staring bewildered at a device you have never seen or interacted with. What I’m saying is that it is much easier to answer the question if you have hands-on experience.
And I think what the author is saying is that we should spend more time giving kids microscopes and testing what they see with them.
TANGENT ABOUT BIKE SHED COLOURS:
Questions like this remind me of questions about OOP. First the preamble: “Organize objects into classes to create a hierarchy of abstract types....” Then a question: “Classes are used to (a) provide a constructor for objects, (b) to promote reuse of behaviour, (c) to model a type hierarchy, (d) to facilitate modular software development.”
You ask someone to build a model in their head, and then the most successful strategy for answering the question is to turn the model off and use brute force to scan the exact words of the question, because the more knowledge you have of the domain, the less likely you are to answer the question correctly from your experience.
What you’re saying is that it is possible to answer the question while staring bewildered at a device you have never seen or interacted with.
Based on my life experience so far; this is one of the most important skills to learn.
What I’m saying is that it is much easier to answer the question if you have hands-on experience.
Of course; but that isn't the point of the test.
And I think what the author is saying is that we should spend more time giving kids microscopes and testing what they see with them.
Yes, but again this test is not about that. And if the author is arguing that practical experience should entirely supplant this sort of critical thinking then I entirely disagree.
Critical thinking is taught from a young age, in very subtle ways. The ability to approach a topic you know nothing about, dissemble it, and answer a question (either posed to you, or by you) is fundamental to all of our lives.
I agree with everything you are preaching about critical thinking. Personally, I don’t think this particular type of question is good at testing critical thinking, and worse I think that the incentives in the school system are all about gaming the test rather than teaching critical thinking.
My feeling looking at this is that if I wanted kids to get the highest possible score, I’d teach them how to take tests rather than buy them a bunch of tools and have them figure out how to use the tools from the instruction manuals (reading, critical thinking, problem solving). Whereas if I wanted them to learn critical thinking, we’d be solving problems with tools.
But I accept that this is a very large topic, it’s not like this is a one-question test, and students are exposed to a variety of stimuli. Also, there is always the democracy argument: This might be the worst test ever devised, except for all of the others we’ve tried. Perhaps this is the “least worst” way to test and teach given other factors in play.
> What you’re saying is that it is possible to answer the question while staring bewildered at a device you have never seen or interacted with.
The question is completely invalidated by knowledge of the domain. If anything, they should have constructed an artificial device that would guarantee the student didn't have domain knowledge that would allow them to bypass the necessary critical thinking:
To avoid smaggling the fizdoodle, make sure you begin with the smunderson in the upright position.
Q: Why should the smunderson start in the upright position?
"The microscope lens should initially be placed close to the glass slide: C. To avoid breaking the glass slide when adjusting the focus."
Incidentally that statement only sense if you know which direction to turn the focus knob, and you recognize the fact that the hypothetical microscope is capable of crushing the specimen. I had one when I was a kid that was incapable of doing so.
I answered the question correctly, but it only due to my cynicism, not my reading comprehension.
Blah blah blah blah.
"To avoid crushing the glass slide when focusing, begin with the microscope close to the specimen and then gradually back off to focus."
Blah blah blah blah.
And you know what? I'll tell you why people get this wrong. It's because their brains turn off. They say "omg microscopes scary! big block of text!" and guess at answers instead of actually bothering to try and read the text. That's one reason why they get poor scores at reading comprehension: a lack of reading with intent to comprehend. Heck, if they're pressed for time and the guessing-wrong penalty is low enough, it's an entirely rational response.
The fact that the journalist is that dense is mostly a symptom of "oh hey I've found an argument against standardized testing to fit my preexisting conceptions of the matter! Screw reading it, it looks complicated, I'll just use it to justify things." Same basic problem.
Yes. My mom said "Now what do I do?" when there was a box on her screen that said "Click Next to Continue" and that's all that could be done. I've been trying to teach her to read the boxes that come up before she calls me for help.
On the other hand, when she doesn't call me for help, she ends up printing off a picture from a webpage and scanning it back in to get it into a power point presentation. That's better than giving up on the problem, I guess.
So wait, you're saying the reason for the lens to begin close to the glass is the same reason the lens should begin close to the specimen? How did you come to that conclusion?
The microscope lens should initially be placed close to the glass slide: C. To avoid breaking the glass slide when adjusting the focus.